White Chocolate Cranberry Creme Brûlée

Oh my. This dessert. It changed my life.

Okay, maybe that's a little dramatic. But, it's stupid good. And incredibly easy. Why haven't I made creme brûlée before? It's not hard at all. It simply required a bit of prep in the morning before dinner that night as it has to chill 8 hours. I used the broiler to crisp the tops, but now I have a torch on my wish list! The recipe comes from Southern Living and is perfect for the holidays. I hosted Christmas Eve dinner this year, and we had this amazing dessert to top it all off. Minds were blown. Dishes were actually licked clean.

Make this.

{these were such hot commodities, I only had time for an iPhone pic!}

White Chocolate Cranberry Creme Brûlée
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Ingredients
2 cups whipping cream
4 ounces white chocolate (I used a bar of Ghirardelli)
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar, divided
1/2 of a 14 oz can of whole berry cranberry sauce
Ice cubes
Sugared cranberries and mint (recipe below)

1. Combine 1/2 cup cream and white chocolate in a heavy saucepan; cook over low heat, stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes or until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla and remaining 1 1/2 cups cream.

2. Whisk together egg yolks and 1/4 cup sugar until sugar is dissolved and mixture is thick. Add cream mixture, whisking until well blended. Pour mixture through a fine wire-mesh strainer into a large bowl.

3. Spoon 1 1/2 Tbsp. cranberry sauce into each of 6 (4-oz.) ramekins. Using a spatula, spread sauce around bottom of ramekin. Pour cream-and-egg mixture evenly into ramekins; place ramekins in a large roasting pan. Add water to pan to depth of 1/2 inch.

4. Bake at 300° for 45 to 55 minutes or until edges are set. Cool custards in pan on a wire rack 25 minutes. Remove ramekins from water bath; cover with plastic wrap and chill 8 hours.

5. Sprinkle 1 1/2 to 2 tsp. remaining sugar evenly over each ramekin. Fill a large roasting pan or 15- x 10- x 1-inch jelly-roll pan with ice; arrange ramekins in pan over ice.

6. Broil 5 inches from heat 3 to 5 minutes or until sugar is melted and caramelized, or use kitchen torch. Let stand 5 minutes. Garnish, if desired.

Sugared Cranberries
*this makes plenty so you'll have extras for snacking*
1 cup cranberries
1/2 cup good maple syrup
1/2 cup sugar

Rinse cranberries and place in a medium bowl. Heat syrup in a small saucepan just until warm. Pour over cranberries when syrup is warm, not hot, or cranberries may pop. Cool, cover, and let soak in the refrigerator overnight.
Drain cranberries in a colander. Place sugar in a large bowl or baking dish. Add cranberries in 2 batches and roll around until lightly coated in sugar. Place on a baking sheet until dry, about 1 hour. Note: try to drain the cranberries as best you can. The excess maple syrup can get your cranberries too loaded down with sugar, so I had to use a fork to get my cranberries out of the sugar without too much excess.

Sugared Mint
1 tbsp light corn syrup
Handful mint leaves
sugar

Using a small, clean paint brush, brush syrup on tops of mint leaves and coat with sugar. Let sit 5 minutes and top with more sugar. Allow to dry for about 30 minutes. Shake off excess.